The decision came after a parliamentary commission accused Lutsenko of corruption and failure to reform the country's law enforcement agencies.

Lutsenko is a close ally of President Viktor Yushchenko and one of the few members of the Orange Revolution team still in government.

Meanwhile, Yushchenko has asked parliament to dismiss the head of the country's state security service, Ihor Drizhchany. Ukraine's Interfax new agency reports that he could soon be appointed to the president's Security and Defense Council.